


In the Mall

by Pokedash55, Purplefern



Series: Twins -- A Human|Squip AU [3]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Again, Flirting, Fluff, Gen, Human Jeremy Heere's Squip, I'm Bad At Endings, I'm Bad At Titles, Jeremy Heere is Shorter than Michael Mell, Jeremy Heere is socially anxious, Jeremy Heere's Squip Uses They/Them Pronouns, Jeremy Heere's Squip looks like Jeremy Heere, Michael calling the Squip "Mr Roboto" is my new favorite thing, Michael is a hoodie stan, Michael is here to drink slushies and watch the world burn, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mountain Dew Red (mentioned), Shopping, Shopping Malls, Short Jeremy Heere's Squip, Squip likes Mountain Dew slushies, Squip likes makeup, T only for swears, That was my sister's idea and I love it, but better safe than sorry, co-written with my sister, literally there is nothing bad in here, this is just a fact, why yes I did steal this title from a song, wouldn't be one of my stories without it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23726515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokedash55/pseuds/Pokedash55, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purplefern/pseuds/Purplefern
Summary: The Squip complains about not having any things of their own, so Jeremy let's them come to the mall with him and Michael.
Relationships: Jeremy Heere & Jeremy Heere's Squip & Michael Mell
Series: Twins -- A Human|Squip AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701745
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *part of my on-going human AU*  
> After the events of the Play, the Squip’s hardware is damaged, and ends up accidentality being rejected from Jeremy’s head. Normally, this would essentially “kill” it, since SQUIPs were designed to only work inside of a human host. But, the will to live is a powerful force, even for a supercomputer, so using the materials available to it (Jeremy’s DNA) they form themselves their own human body, essentially becoming their own host. (It’s more complicated than that, a bit more fusion-like, but anyway.) The long and short of it is that Human|Squip looks like Jeremy but slightly shorter and with blue eyes, kay? Kay
> 
> Also once again co-written with my sister.

“Jeremy, I think I should have my own clothes”, commented Squip, staring at the t-shirt in their hands distastefully. 

“Why?”questioned Jeremy with an oblivious practicality, pulling on one of his own shirts as he got ready for a day hanging out at the mall with Michael, “You can just keep wearing my stuff. Like, it fits, doesn’t it?” 

The Squip looked over Jeremy’s closet, and shuddered, “They might fit me physically but visually? I think continually dressing this way would injure me. If I’m going to remain in this form, I want to have my own image. One that’s not...this” they ended with a disgusted note, gesturing towards Jeremy’s current outfit. 

“Okay Mr ‘I’m too chill for t-shirts’” mocked Jeremy with an eyeroll, clearly not taking the complaints seriously. 

“Nerd t-shirts, Jeremy. And cardigans” they said the words with dripping derision, “In case you’ve forgotten, those were the first things I told you to get rid of when you were trying to become more chill”. 

“Technically, the first thing you told me to get rid of was my slouch” 

The blue eyes that met his in a dead stare cut off any further snark, and he sighed, “Fiiiiinnne. You’re too cool for my nerdy wardrobe. What do you _want_ to wear, then?” 

His look-alike scoffed, a sound that Jeremy was very used to hearing from them (honestly, it was almost a relief to hear. This last week of adjustment had been...difficult. And weird. And had resulted in the Squip crying more times than Jeremy was really comfortable with dealing with from a supercomputer.) 

“I certainly wouldn't want any of your things. It’s not my style”. 

Jeremy blew out an exaggerated sigh. He was _going_ to use this day out as a way to get away from the Squip. He was certainly liking them better these days, but dealing with the human thing had been so stressful. A day at the mall with just him and his best friend sounded like the perfect escape, but alas…

“Just put on that shirt for now and you can…” he couldn’t help but groan in annoyance, “Come to the mall with me and Michael and we can get you some clothes of your own”. 

At the suggestion, the Squip practically lit up with a smile, and _God_ was that weird. Not just because he was basically looking at his own face smiling at him but because it was the _Squip_. He could count the number of times they had looked happy on one hand. 

But they didn’t argue and tugged on the (in their words “most tasteful they could find”) tshirt, looking at Jeremy expectantly. Sighing again, Jeremy checked his phone to see an ETA from Michael, and moved towards the door, resignedly commenting over his shoulder, “Come on. Let’s go”.

The Squip surprised themself when they found themself excitedly dashing out the door and down the stairs at the words. Forcing their emotions down, they slowed their pace, but they couldn’t entirely get rid of the strange, almost bubbling feeling that they had. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but pleasant. Wonderful, really, but it also made it difficult to wait for Jeremy to walk down the stairs and to the door. 

The two look-alikes stood outside of Jeremy’s house as they waited for Michael, the Squip unable to control their grin and Jeremy looking at them out of the corner of his eye with a slightly disturbed expression. Don’t get him wrong, he was glad to see the Squip happy for once, it seemed like they were a sad sack most of the time since becoming human. It was just super _weird_ to see them happy. Finally, Michael’s car pulled up into the driveway.

“Hey Jeremy!” called out Michael excitedly as he leaned out of the driver side window of his PT Cruiser. His expression fizzled when he noticed Jeremy’s more forlorn face, and the second person standing beside him. “And, uh, Squip…?” he greeted significantly less enthusiastically. 

As Jeremy morosely climbed into the passenger side, Michael leaned over and said in a low voice, his eyes flicking up to the mirror to watch the Squip sit primly in the back seat,“I thought that you wanted today to be a you and me thing…?”

“I did” grumbled Jeremy, “but Squipster back there said that they wanted their own stuff. So I told them they could come” 

Michael smirked at his best friend, clapping him on the shoulder, “Dude. You are way too nice, you know that?” 

“I know” he mumbled, but smiled anyway. 

The ride to the mall wasn’t so bad. He and Michael talked, and the Squip sat silently in the back, observing and introspecting. While the two in the front laughed at a school story, they were formulating a broad list of possible items to purchase. They were frustrated that they could no longer devise a literal checklist in their mind, but settled for committing it to memory. The human way. 

All of them observed the mall thoughtfully as the group got out of the car and walked towards the entrance. The three of them had been through a lot at this particular location. The trio became especially thoughtful as they paused in front of the Payless Shoes, simultaneously cocking their heads to observe the store’s sign. 

“I was born here” the Squip commented in a forced casual manner, looking intensely at the storefront. They scanned around the mall, looking for the benches between a couple of planters nearby, “Right there is where I first activated and accessed Jeremy’s brain” they said, more wistfully than one would expect. 

“Yeah, I remember” replied Jeremy significantly less wistfully, in fact cringing slightly at the memory. SQUIP activation had to be one of the most painful experiences he could ever think of. And the moments afterwards hadn’t exactly been fun, either. He shivered, and pushed the group past the shoe store. He didn’t know if they were still dealing SQUIPs, and frankly, he didn’t want to know. He was having enough trouble with the one. Even as they walked on past it, the Squip couldn’t help but look back at the store over their shoulder. As they turned their attention back forwards, they noted that “sentimentality” was another thing that they would have to get used to. 

After browsing through a few shops, where Squip picked out a few t-shirts that they deemed “chill enough”, the group soon found themself in a smaller independent store, that the Sqiup had said they felt good about. 

Considering the rack of clothes, the Squip locked on to one jacket, picking it up and regarding it calculatingly. “This both suits my frame, and would look approximately 70% more chill”

“So you like it?” Jeremy asked, amused and a little annoyed, not yet turning away from his own browsing. 

The Squip gave him a non-comprehending look, replying, “I don’t understand the question”. 

Sighing, Jeremy realized this was going to devolve into one of _those_ talks, the sort of overly-philosophical “what is humanity” talks that he really wasn’t qualified to answer and yet here he was. Turning around, he attempted to explain, gesturing vaguely and doing his best to hide his exasperation, “Like, do you want it? Are you feeling drawn to this particular item? Do you inexplicably feel that this is something you would wear everyday?” 

“...yes?” the Squip replied uncertainly. After thinking about it a moment they, replied more confidently, “Yes” (thank God for that, Jeremy didn’t want to have another philosophy and free will 101 chat again), “I want it”. He lost a little of his annoyance at just how surprised and happy the statement made the ex-computer sound.

“Alright, then” he replied, grabbing his card out of his wallet. Actually looking at what the Squip had picked out, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes fondly at the black leather jacket that looked almost identical to the one the Squip had worn when it was first activated. He was all ready to get this shopping trip over with, until he saw the price and sputtered in shock.“Dude, my allowance can’t afford all of this! Does your edgy ass really need a $200 black leather jacket?!” 

The Squip’s vaguely pleased expression fell back to an unfortunately familiar deadpan disappointed glare. Looking at Jeremy pointedly, they commented,“I thought this trip was supposed to be for boosting my self-esteem and establishing my self image?” 

“Your self-esteem isn’t worth $200!” Jeremy nearly shouted loud enough for the whole store to hear.

“Wow, Jer. Cold” snickered Michael from where he was looking over several different hoodies (because, in his opinion, you never could have too many hoodies). 

“For once, I agree with Michael” huffed Squip, looking slightly hurt, “Do not promise to get me the clothes that I want, and then refuse what I pick out.”

“Pick out things that aren’t so expensive!” hissed Jeremy, straining to keep his voice a little quieter as he carefully hung the jacket back on the rack, “I’ve already spent enough on the tshirts, I can’t drop so much on a _jacket_ ”

“I just have good taste. I was programmed with it” retorted the Squip as they crossed their arms and looked away with something resembling pettiness. Jeremy decided not to comment on that too deeply. He wasn’t in the mood to get into another existential computer discussion with them. 

“I don’t care!” he said authoritatively, gesturing at the rest of the store, “Pick something else!” Crossing his arms and straightening up to show that he meant it, he added,“But you’re getting a price limit now. $60” 

“If it was so important, you should have said the price limit to begin with” huffed Squip, and the two shared glares for a moment before the Squip relented and went to find something else. 

Begrudgingly, they soon managed to find a similar jacket, though it was only in _faux_ leather. They tried it on experimentally, wondering if the imposter material could hold up. Looking over it, and running their hands down the fabric, they decided it would do. At the very least it looked better than their current attire, and they found that having a jacket at all was nice for inexplicable reasons. They just felt...more comfortable with it on. They still struggled to understand their own feelings most of the time, and “wanting” this jacket was one of those things they couldn’t comprehend. They chose for now to ignore it, and simply enjoy the fact that Jeremy was getting them something that they could call their own. Nodding decisively to themself, they took the jacket off and precisely put it back on its hanger before seeking out Jeremy with the card. 

From where he was still sorting through a seemingly endless collection of hoodies, Michael commented, “Hey! This is so you, Mr Roboto” as he held up a black hoodie that had a cartoonish robot on it. 

“I’m not a robot, I’m a computer” replied the Squip offhandedly as they passed him on their way to the checkout counter, “There is a difference, not that I would bother wasting my time trying to explain it to you”. Michael did not appear to be listening, and was instead contemplating the hoodie, looking thoughtfully at the price tag, and then holding it up and stroking his chin, considering. 

“Michael…” warned the Squip, holding their chosen jacket to their chest as they got in line. 

“Well, if you’re gonna get a jacket, you need to have a hoodie” suggested Michael completely innocently, taking the hanger out of the hoodie, and gathering it in his arms. 

“Of course you would say that, Michael” replied Jeremy from where he was looking through the clearance rack next to him, rolling his eyes, “You have like a bazillion hoodies” (“ ‘Bazillion’ is not a number” the Squip instinctively corrected from where they stood at the counter, paying for their jacket. Jeremy rolled his eyes at THAT, too.)

Michael shrugged, nonplussed, “I like red. And I like hoodies. So I bought a dozen of them”. 

“In any case” commented Squip as they walked back to the group after making their purchase, tugging on the jacket and looking pleased with themself, “I would never purchase an article of clothing like _that_ ” they looked at Michael’s well-worn patch-covered hoodie with undisguised disgust. 

“Well, _you_ won’t have to” 

“Good” nodded the Squip decisively. 

“I’ll buy it for you, _buddy_ ” 

“It would be a waste of your money, Michael” advised the Squip, looking over the hoodie in the boy’s hand critically. “I would never wear it. You know I would never wear it” 

Michael ignored them, and grinning to himself, walked dramatically towards checkout anyway. 

“You are throwing your money away, Michael” they argued, distressed from the fact that they were being ignored and the person they were trying to advise was doing something unquestionably stupid. “You can’t be so irresponsible!” 

“It’s my money, and I got free will, so I’m gonna buy what I want” he commented as he made it to the front of the line. The hoodie scanned, the money exchanged, Michael turned towards the Squip with a grin, “And if I want to use my money to make sure you have one of the best articles of clothing known to humankind, well, that’s my decision to make”. 

The teen held out the bulky bundle of clothing to the ex-supercomputer, and they made no move to take it, instead just giving it a disgusted look. 

“Refusing a gift?” asked Michael in mock hurt, “That’s so rude” 

Dropping the hurt tone, he settled into a wheedling tone instead, urging, “C’moooonnn. Just try it on. We’re all dying to see what you would look like in it. Right, Jer?” he asked, turning to his best friend and innocently batting his eyes. Jeremy snorted, both at his best friend’s actions and at his ex-computer’s almost petulant expression. 

“I gotta say, I am curious” he agreed, nodding scientifically. He laughed again at the Squip’s look of betrayal. Moving closer and nudging their shoulder, he added, more gently, “It won’t hurt you to try it on. You should experiment. Maybe you’ll even like it” 

“I sincerely doubt that” they replied, but they did take the hoodie out of Michaels arms. Internally they cursed themself. They always found it so much harder to say no to Jeremy. They reflected that they were just too used to their programming of putting him first. Sighing exaggeratedly, they shrugged off their jacket and held up the ridiculous hoodie. They sneered at the material, and especially the childish robot illustration that adorned it. This was one of the least-chill outfits they could have thought of, and here they were, about to actually put such a thing on their body. Ugh. 

But Jeremy wanted them to “try new things”, so they threw the hoodie on over their head and tugged it into place. And...they found that they liked it. If the faux leather jacket had been comforting to have, _this_ was even more so. Without thinking, they ducked their head slightly under the collar, practically burrowing into the material. The thickness of the sleeves shielded their arms, and it did just the trick to ward off the much-ness of the open air that had bothered them since they first got this body. Mere seconds after relaxing into the warmth of the jacket, they remembered that they were still being watched, and shot up straight, hoping that they weren’t blushing. 

Clearing their throat, they asked, lacing their tone with sarcasm so that neither other teen would know that they actually liked the clothing that they had so strongly reviled, “So? I’ve tried it on. Is this satisfactory?” 

“Aww, you’re adorable” cooed Michael jokingly, and they did blush embarrassedly at that, not knowing if he was serious or teasing (with Michael it was probably a bit of both). “Mr Roboto” he ended, and this time he _was_ teasing, a grin stretching across his face as he looked over the hoodie’s art. 

“So” asked Jeremy more earnestly, giving Michael a playful shove for the “adorable” comment, “Do you like it?” 

They did. They really did like it. They almost liked it more than the jacket they had previously picked out, but hell if they were going to let either teen know that. They were supposed to be _chill_ . They couldn’t be dressing like...like Michael! It went against everything they were supposed to _be_ , so they decided to not answer, and just pulled off the hoodie. (Even though as soon as they took it off they were already missing its comfortable warmth). Putting their more customary jacket back on, they gestured vaguely. “I tried it on. Are you happy?” 

“Very much so, yes” agreed Michael, as the trio walked out of the store and into the mall at large. “I don’t know how you don’t like it though. Hoodies are so comfy” the two Heeres rolled their eyes at Michael’s continued hoodie-crusade. Noticing the eye rolls, Michael teased in retaliation, “At it looked good on you, really went with your freckles”

Jeremy snickered and the Squip looked affronted, raising a self-conscious hand to their face. They longed to look at a mirror, to judge Michael’s words, but didn’t want to call attention to the fact that he had affected them. Instead they settled for studying Jeremy’s face, which was almost as good as a mirror. It suddenly bothered them immensely to picture themself with the freckles that spattered the other teen’s face. Freckles were dorky and childish, and very much not chill. Setting their expression determinedly, they tugged on Jeremy’s arm, telling the boy, “There’s another store I need to go to. I have thought of something else that I want.” 

“Alright” relented Jeremy, following behind them as they made their way to another store, going in the direction from what they’d seen on the directory and their own memories of the mall’s layout. 

Jeremy stared, confused, as they walked determinedly towards a Sephora’s. He gave the Squip a bewildered look as they walked straight in without hesitation, looking like they were on a mission. He and his best friend traded uncomfortable looks, before hesitantly stepping into the store after them. The Squip had already settled into determinedly browsing the store, looking between packages and asking the occasional question to the employees. Jeremy fidgeted awkwardly, unable to fight the feeling that he was breaking some sort of rule just by being in here. Teenage boys just didn’t belong in a makeup store. He could feel himself sink with embarrassment when he noticed the Squip seriously considering an eyeliner pen. And of course, they didn’t appear to have any kind of shame about being in here. But they wouldn’t, he figured. It wasn’t like a computer particularly cared about gender stereotypes, at least as it applied to themself. 

He couldn’t help but give them a disgusted look as they went up to him, holding he-couldn’t-say-what and asking levelly for the card. 

“I’m ashamed you have my face” he lamented embarrassedly as he handed over _his card, his money_ to pay for makeup. 

“As am I” returned the Squip cooly as they went to check out, “Which is why I’m buying makeup”. 

“Ohhhh!” cried Michael at the burn from where he had been curiously browsing merchandise. 

“Michael!” Jeremy gasped, betrayed, “You’re supposed to be on _my_ side” 

Michael shrugged, unapologetic, “A sick burn is a sick burn”. 

“At any rate, my business here is complete. We can leave now” said Squip, gesturing towards the exit with their black and white striped bag. 

“God, whyyy?” complained Jeremy, covering his face in mortification as the group of teens made their way back into the mall, but now noticeably holding a girly lipstick bag. Or at least, to Jeremy it felt obvious. Everyone was totally going to stare at them and know that they were buying makeup, and ok yeah that shouldn’t matter but it did matter, he didn’t want to be seen with _makeup_ alright...

Glancing at Jeremy, who was looking incredibly distressed, the Squip said calmly, “Jeremy. Chill.” 

The two words did a lot to calm Jeremy down (he honestly didn’t want to admit how much), but it was enough to get him out of his own spiralling thoughts, and back to the present, where the Squip was staring at him critically and Michael was looking at him worried but amused. 

Trying to break the tension, Michael suggested, gesturing towards a nearby stand, “Let’s chill, literally! I could use a slushie”. 

Michael’s enthusiam was infectious, and Jeremy found himself smiling easily, “Why not? I’ve already burnt enough money today”. Lining up to order, he turned to Squip, asking, “Do you want one?” 

They thought about it, and he grinned internally as he could almost _see_ them process the idea, which made him ironically think of gears turning in their head and that just made him grin outwardly. 

They were looking over the different options listed on the menu board, and refusing to admit that they didn’t know how to answer the question. They _knew_ what all of the flavors were, and could apply terms to them. Bananas were sweet and mild, lemons were sour, raspberries were tart, they knew this, but they didn’t know what that _meant_ . They had only begun eating a few days ago, and even then there wasn’t much variety in what they tasted. They couldn’t begin to say what they wanted, at least until their eyes fixed onto a thankfully familiar logo. Mountain Dew. That was something they _knew_ that they liked. 

They told Jeremy, and he shook his head with a small laugh before ordering for them. As Jeremy handed them their drink, they took a tentative sip, considering the taste of it. It wasn’t exactly as they remembered-- but then it hardly could be--but it was good. They took another sip, smiling to themself without realizing it. 

“Alright’ said Michael between long sips, “Now that we’ve finished Squip-errands, I’ve got my own things to do” 

“Oh, right, your soda guy or whatever” said Jeremy as he remembered their original reason for coming to the mall today. 

The Squip stopped dead at that, a sharp tingling feeling making its way up their spine, “Your ‘soda guy’?” they questioned (and no their voice was not any higher pitched, it was a perfectly usual tone), not moving even as Michael and Jeremy started to walk in the direction of the Spencer’s. “The one that gets you discontinued sodas, I imagine?” 

“Yup” replied Michael cheerily, popping the ‘p’, “He said he had something really special in for me, so I gotta go and check it out”. 

“Uh huh” they totally didn’t stammer in reply as they unenthusiastically walked after the rest of the group. “And you have to do this today?” they asked, merely to clarify. 

Jeremy gave them a look at that, and they inconspicuously sipped on their slushie, “Yeah, Squip. It’s kind of the reason we came to the mall today? _You’re_ the tag-along, here”. 

“Of course” they replied evenly, but with a strained expression. They said nothing more on the matter as the group walked back through the mall to the Spencer’s, instead they silently drank their slush and attempted to control their own feelings. 

“I wonder what he’s got for me this time” wondered Michael excitedly as he walked into the store and headed towards the back. He spouted off a number of theories while Jeremy grinned and followed him, but he stopped right inside the store when he realized that Squip had not followed. 

Waving at his friend to go on ahead, Jeremy turned around and asked, “You comin?” 

They looked between Jeremy and the store, keeping the straw to their drink in their mouth as they thought. 

“I--” they started, hesitated, then shook their head and started again, “I think that--I very much don’t want to”. They looked to the other teen, as if he could somehow confirm or deny their own feelings, but they were getting better at recognizing what they felt. And right now, looking at that store, thinking about that _soda_ made their body freeze and those little shocks shoot up their back. It wasn’t pleasant in the least. 

“Are you…” questioned Jeremy, looking like he didn’t know whether to be amused or concerned, “You’re actually scared right now, aren’t you?” 

“No” they shot back instantly, turning their back to Jeremy to throw away their now empty cup, and not willing to admit to the idea that they were frightened by something as trivial as an expired soda. 

Despite what they said, though, they made no move to enter the store as they turned back around. Jeremy rolled his eyes, suggesting as he also threw his own cup away, "Well if you won't go in we should at least stop standing in the middle of the mall." 

“Hmm” they hummed noncommitly in response, still reflecting on the devil’s drink that Michael may or may not have been buying at the moment, and trying hard to ignore how terrible the thought made them feel. 

"Seriously,” said Jeremy, his voice sounding significantly more strained, “People are starting to stare at us. Can we at least find a bench or something…"

Jeremy’s fear was a welcome distraction from any debates on whether their own existed or not. Finally tearing their gaze away from the store’s sign, Squip glanced back at Jeremy who was suddenly fearfully looking at a spot further in the mall. Following his gaze, they quickly locked onto a group of chatting girls who walked in their general direction. 

Shifting in place nervously where he stood, Jeremy suggested once again, more anxiously than before, "Let’s just, y'know, get out of the way?" 

Observing his behavior, the Squip came to the disappointing realization that Jeremy was clearly still nervous about his public perception. Grateful for the distraction, and determined to once again rid Jeremy of this unnecessary anxiety, the Squip began casually moving toward the group of females, in complete contrast to Jeremy’s suggestions. They had a plan. 

They acted both dignified and sly as they leaned against a railing in place to prevent people from falling down to the second floor that ran across the aisle from the entrance to Spencer’s. Jeremy stood stock still for a second, still lingering in front of the Spencer’s (where he could hear Michael groaning at the apparently higher than usual price of his soda) until Squip gestured him over. 

"Whatareyoudoing" the boy spit out quickly in a whisper, as he reluctantly joined them in leaning against the railing.

"Shhh" hushed his chill duplicate as he shuffled his feet anxiously, his gaze darting to the group of girls who had settled down on a group of benches not more than ten feet away. Two girls enjoyed their frozen yogurt on the large mall bench while three others stood in the middle of the walkway. The Squip tried collecting information on their insecurities, interests, and personalities but without their processor the search came up surprisingly blank. Guess they'd have to rely on what they already knew and go from there. They were certain that would be sufficient. They were, after all, built for this. "Hey ladies" they began, softly, casually. 

Jeremy nearly jumped in the air at the Squip’s audacity, but as half the “ladies” turned to face this suave yet incredibly dorky looking teen, he had to say he was also impressed. ‘Hey ladies’ should have been the lamest and/or douchiest conversational opener of all time, but somehow the Squip made it _work_. Even though they had been in his head and had once instructed him how to do it, he still couldn’t understand how they could be so goddam chill. 

Meanwhile, Squip’s glance shifted from the entire group to one member in particular. From simply observing the five of them they could tell she was the leader, from the way she confidently took more space on the bench than she needed and made eye contact right away. Meeting her eyes and not looking away, the Squip smiled. The two girls behind their fearless leader peaked over her shoulders, but instead of locking eyes with the mysterious stranger, they noticed an all too familiar type of bag that the Squip held in their hand. 

"Makeup?" remarked the shorter, glasses wearing girl gently making room for herself on the bench beside her significantly taller friend. Jeremy turned his face away from the group and his embarrassing companion. He _knew_ buying makeup would make them look like losers. 

"You have good eyes." The Squip began, proudly holding up the bag like it was a trophy. “I wouldn’t have thought girls like you would recognize it, you look like natural beauties”. 

The girls all giggled, especially the shorter girl who had asked, and Jeremy hid his head in his hands and tried to will himself to not be there. 

"So What is your name, stranger?” asked a brunette flirtatiously as she stepped closer to the Squip. 

Embarrassingly, the Squip almost blanked at the question, though realistically they should have anticipated it. Humans had names. Humans shared their names to build social bonds. Of course. And they could hardly say their name was “Squip”. That was _not_ an acceptable human name. Before the silence could drag on too long as to appear awkward or strange, they thought fast, smoothly replying with the first thing to come to mind, “Skip”. If they weren’t so confident, they would have facepalmed at the incredibly dorky choice. (Jeremy seemed to be facepalming for them, so there was that.) 

“Skip?” asked the brunette in disbelief, raising a judging eyebrow. 

_Play it off casually. Don’t look affected_ , the Squip advised themself out of instinct, and casually shrugged in response, as if they were completely unaffected by the perception of their name. “It’s actually a name I was awarded in my school for mastering the art of skipping class." As they began to make up a detailed impressive story, they noticed their user looking increasingly uncomfortable. They frowned internally, even as externally they kept up their confident routine for the enamoured group of listeners. Jeremy’s discomfort was not the plan. They had thought if they did all the talking, it would be enough to set Jeremy at ease so that he could jump in. Well. Their plans were less foolproof than they could have been, because of their lack of quantum processor, but they were adaptable. It was time for plan B. Perhaps he just needed a bit more persuasion. It was time that Jeremy received some of the praise from this interaction.

"My friend Jeremy Heere has assisted me many times" they told the small crowd, effectively throwing him into the fire. The girls simultaneously looked at the previously-ignored teen-- who was leaning against the bar and beginning to sweat nervously-- just now noticing his presence. 

A few of them shared confused looks that the socially awkward brown haired kid was actually with the mysterious charmer. But they did look similar. The short girl and the brunette whispered back and forth, theorizing that Jeremy was probably the way cooler Skip’s younger brother that just got dragged along to the mall, and wasn’t it just sooo cool that he could look after his brother like that, and, like, didn’t even care? Sweet guys were the best. 

Seeing the confused glances from the girls the Squip was then determined to make Jeremy the new center of attention. They began to fabricate a story where they escaped a whole day of testing as mere sophomores, ending with, "...it was one hell of a day, wasn’t it Jeremy" they raised a brow at Jeremy, expecting him to follow along with their absurdity.

Jeremy's heart raced as the Squip now drew all the female attention towards him. They practically forced him to chime in instead of standing there quietly and awkwardly, like he was planning to. "I-uh." Jeremy managed to stammer out, "c-can ya-you excuse us please". He forced the Squip to turn away from their new fanclub so he could hopefully put an end to whatever they were doing.

"Hey, earth to ‘Skip’, what are you _doing_?" hissed Jeremy lowly, looking over his shoulder self-consciously at the now-giggling girls. 

The Squip looked at him disapprovingly, "I’m trying to get these girls to notice you, Jeremy” they said as though that were obvious. 

“Great. My once invisible computer is trying to be my wingman” he complained, cradling his head in his hands and trying very hard to not think about the group of girls that were probably laughing at him _this very second_. 

“You were acting so anxious. You shouldn’t be freaking out every time a group of people walks by us in the mall. Have some confidence. We’re merely having a conversation.” 

“No, _you’re_ having a conversation. I want no part of this” 

Squip (“Skip”) gave him a pitying look, advising, “You can’t avoid talking to other people forever, Jeremy. Especially since I can no longer directly help you.” 

He said nothing in response and Squip turned away from the huddle to continue their conversation with the lead girl. Jeremy resumed standing tensely next to them, leaning on the bar in a significantly-less-chill way and hoping that Squip wouldn’t try to turn the attention back to him again. 

And they didn’t. They didn't seem as invested in the conversation anymore, either, and gradually wound it down. Jeremy could only manage to smile awkwardly as the Squip finished up their conversation with the lead girl, nearly collapsing in relief as they all finally left, and it was just him and his annoying Squip alone in front of the store. 

"I can’t believe you did that" bemoaned Jeremy. 

At this point, Michael walked back to his best friend, watching the growing argument with curiosity, but not making his presence known. 

“I was only trying to help” they replied, sounding just as upset, “And you wasted it Jeremy. I gave you the perfect opportunity to talk to any of those girls, and you wasted it”. 

“Yeah, well, they were all too in love with ‘Skip’ to even listen to me, I bet” he grumbled. 

Michael looked between the two of them, with a confused but amused smirk. "Aww, I think Jer is jealous" he sing-songed, taking a cocky sip of his slushie. 

"Michael?!” cried Jeremy in surprise at the sudden reappearance of his friend, before he actually processed what he had said, “Buh-wha-no! I so am not jealous of a freaking former tictac!" 

"You don’t have to be jealous of me, Jeremy” said Squip, looking mildly confused, “In fact, I would like for you to be better at being chill than I am. You know, just because I am no longer in your brain does not mean I can't still give you advice" 

"La la la, I'm not listening!" shouted Jeremy, clapping his hands over his ears and wanting to pretend like that entire embarrassing humiliation hadn’t just happened. Uncovering his ears, he pleaded to the group, “Look, Michael got his soda, you got your not-nerd clothes, let’s just call it a day and go home, alright?” 

The drive home was mostly quiet, all of them a bit tired from the eventful day. No one said a word until Jeremy and the Squip were getting out of the car, when Michael leaned out the window and said, “See ya, Jer” getting another suspicious smile, he also added, “and you too, ‘Skip’.” Laughing, Michael ducked back into his car and drove off before the Squip could say a word in retaliation, instead standing and silently fuming. 

“I told you talking to those girls would be trouble” criticized Jeremy, but he was covering his mouth and trying not to laugh.

“Shut up” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny story, I have been spelling Michael as Micheal and I didn't realize it was wrong until now. So I had to go back through and change every single Michael. Ughghghgh. See you in the Epilogue.


	2. Epilogue

Going back inside the house, Squip set about organizing their things. They set their makeup on the bathroom sink, and carried the clothes into ~~Jeremy’s~~ their room. They set the bags onto the bed that had been set up for them, folding the few tshirts they had gotten inside dresser drawers that Jeremy had set aside for them, and neatly hanging the faux leather jacket inside the closet. They got a curiously warm feeling looking at how the black jacket stuck out among the crowd of cardigans. That was theirs. It was their jacket. It felt nice to own something, they reflected, to have a little something of their own that said that they were here.

Surveying their work, their eyes landed on one other item, their gentle grin turning to a grimace. Oh. Right. Michael’s “gift”. Picking up the childish hoodie, they took it over to the dresser, fully intending to shove it deep into a drawer and never speak of it again. But before they could, they ran their hands over the material, and bit their lip in indecision. 

They should get rid of it. It didn’t fit their image. Really the fact that they were debating over this was ridiculous. But, as they held it in their hands, remembering how safe and warm it had been to wear, they realized that they wanted it. Looking between the jacket and the dresser drawer, weighing pros and cons, they ultimately relented, and turned around to hang the hoodie in the closet right next to their chill jacket. 

When Jeremy came into the room later, he raised a brow at the new addition to the closet space, but didn’t say anything. They didn’t say anything either. 

The only person who did say anything was Mr Heere, whose voice could be heard coming from the bathroom, “Hey, so, uh, why is there makeup in here?” 

Jeremy laughed, and the Squip just sighed. 

* * *

(The Hoodie)

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was a monster, at least for me. It was really fun to let the Squip have some fun as a human instead of, you know, crying (which is what I usually do. I'm sorry Squip, I swear I don't hate you). I hope you liked this story. Leave kudos, comments, etc. Thanks for reading!


End file.
